THE NUMBERS BEHIND THE STORIES
Data can help identify patterns.
Across different systems, current data reveals different parts of the problem — from disproportionate outcomes to what is identified or recognised, recorded, measured and supported.
EMPLOYMENT
TWICE AS LIKELY
Autistic graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed 15 months after graduation as non-disabled graduates.
​
Source
Buckland Review of Autism Employment
(2024)
SOCIAL CARE
52%
of those identified by social workers with a learning disability were not recorded as disabled in the Children in Need census.
Source
Department for Education
(2026)
JUSTICE
OVER-REPRESENTED
Neurodivergent children are over-represented in the youth justice system.
​
​
Source
Youth Justice
Board
(2024)
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
98%
of SEND tribunal decisions were found wholly or partly in favour of parents and young people.
Source
Ministry of Justice
​
(2022/23)​
EDUCATION
4 1/2 times
Pupils with identified SEND are 4½ times more likely to be suspended than the other children.​​​​​
Source
House of Commons
Library ​
​
(2025)
HEALTHCARE
OVER 4 YEARS WAIT
23% of children diagnosed with
ADHD waited over four years from referral to diagnosis.
Source
Children's Commissioner
(2024)
What remains inadequately measured is the full scale of these disparities across the neurodivergent population — and the extent to which misunderstanding, exclusion or discrimination contribute to them
LOOKING BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Statistics can reveal an outcome — but not always its scale or its cause.
The following sections explore what research tells us, what it doesn't tell us, and the important evidence that remains missing.
EMPLOYMENT
Research shows
Available data shows very low employment among working-age autistic disabled people.
What's not captured
Employment outcomes across the whole autistic population compared directly with the non-autistic population.
What's not questioned
To what extent do recruitment practices, workplace expectations and systemic barriers create the disparity?
SOCIAL CARE
Research shows
Children with identified SEND
are disproportionately represented within the care system.
​
What's not measured
The consequence of unmet SEND needs, delayed support or inadequate provision contribute to children entering or remaining in care.
What's not questioned
How often does failure to support a
child's needs become treated as a
family or social-care problem?
JUSTICE
Research shows
People with ADHD are consistently disproportionately represented within
the justice system
What's not measured
How many people entering the justice system have unidentified or unsupported neurodivergent needs.
What's not questioned
To what extent do unmet needs, exclusion and systemic barriers contribute to involvement with the justice system?
HEALTHCARE
Research shows
Many children experience prolonged waits before receiving assessment or diagnosis.
What's not measured
The cumulative educational, emotional and family impact of years spent waiting for identification and support.
What's not questioned
What harm is created while waiting and what could have been prevented by earlier recognition and support?
EDUCATION
Research shows
Pupils with identified SEND
experience significantly higher rates
of suspension than their peers.
What's not measured
The extent of unmet needs, inappropriate support and behaviour policies contributing to suspensions and other poor outcomes.
What's not questioned
How often is neurodivergent distress or difference treated as behaviour to managed rather than a need to be understood?
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Research shows
Most SEND tribunal decisions are found wholly or partly in favour of parents and young people.
What's not measured
How many families cannot appeal, abandon appeals or accept decisions they believe are wrong.
What's not questioned
Why are Local Authority decisions commonly overturned once in the tribunal process and why is this not investigated?
The key question remains unanswered:
If legal protections exist, why do people so commonly and consistently fail to experience those protections in practice?
The absence of evidence should not be mistaken for the absence of a problem.
Sometimes it simply reflects the fact that the question has not yet been asked.
BRIDGING THE EVIDENCE GAP
Requires thinking differently:
FOR EVERY NEUROTYPE
Looking beyond individual diagnoses
to recognise neurodivergence as a connected community with shared experiences, overlapping traits and common barriers. Together, this
broader perspective helps reveal the systemic issues that unite them.
WHERE EVERY VOICE COUNTS
Anonymous submissions allow students, parents, professionals, employees, allies and the wider community to share honest lived experiences without fear of judgement or consequence. Every perspective helps build a fuller understanding of SENDism.
EVERY EXPERIENCE IS EVIDENCE
By collecting lived experiences from the neurodivergent community in one place, patterns begin to emerge that individual stories and condition-specific research cannot easily reveal alone, providing the evidence needed to better understand and challenge SENDism across society
Individual stories raise awareness, but when viewed as a collective from an entire community, these experiences reveal systemic patterns.